Southpaw shakes hands with former Senator Joseph Bruno, center, after he throws the first pitch of the Valley Cats home opening baseball game against Connecticut on Friday, June 18, 2010, at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Southpaw shakes hands with former Senator Joseph Bruno, center,...

Baseball fans relax on the lawn near the vistor's bullpen as the Valley cats play the visiting Aberdeen Iron Birds at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy. (Michael P. Farrell / Times Union )

Baseball fans relax on the lawn near the vistor's bullpen as the...

Joe Bruno talks to the press outside the federal courthouse in Albany, December 1. A possible verdict was predicted today for Joe Bruno's trial. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)

Joe Bruno talks to the press outside the federal courthouse in...

Former Senator Joseph Bruno throws the first pitch of the Valley Cats home opening baseball game against Connecticut on Friday, June 18, 2010, at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, N.Y. (Cindy Schultz / Times Union)

Former Senator Joseph Bruno throws the first pitch of the Valley...

ValleyCats' fans chase a foul ball during a baseball game against the Batavia Muckdogs at Joe Bruno Stadium on Sunday, July 4, 2010. (HANS PENNINK / SPECIAL TO THE TIMES UNION)

ValleyCats' fans chase a foul ball during a baseball game against...

A large American flag is unfurled during the singing of the national anthem before a baseball game between Tri-City ValleyCats and the Batavia Muckdogs at Joe Bruno Stadium on Sunday, July 4, 2010. (HANS PENNINK / SPECIAL TO THE TIMES UNION)

Times Union Staff Photo by Jonathan Fickies -- With HVCC President John Buono at his side, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno wields a unique groundbreaking implement on the Troy campus Monday, May 7, 2001: a shovel with a baseball bat-shaped handle. Ground was broken on a new baseball stadium.

(JONATHAN FICKIES, DG)

Times Union Staff Photo by Jonathan Fickies -- With HVCC President...

Times Union photo by STEVE JACOBS, 3/20/02, Troy,NY-- NEW STADIUM -- Senator Joseph Bruno holds a baseball and wears a Tri-City ValleyCats baseball cap ,right, awaits his turn to sxpeak as he stands next to rendering of a new baseball stadium named in his honor during a press conference at Hudson Valley Community College, Wednesday March 20,2002 ( for story) 1 of 2 photos

NORTH GREENBUSH — Department of Transportation officials are preparing to erase the work of a politically minded graffiti artist who painted over former Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno's name on a sign for his namesake baseball stadium in Troy and painted in the name of the home team, the ValleyCats.

It is unclear how long ago the unofficial name change took place.

Naming the stadium after Bruno has been controversial, with critics complaining his name should be taken off the stadium.

Bruno was convicted of corruption in 2009, but a federal appeals court overturned his conviction after the Supreme Court ruled that the statute under which he was convicted was too vague.

A federal grand jury indicted Bruno on new charges earlier this month, alleging he deprived the state of his honest services by using his political power to garner hundreds of thousands of dollars in a bribery and kickback scheme from a business associate and friend, Loudonville businessman Jared E. Abbruzzese.